“In the dark?” She indicated her gown. “I don’t have even a chemise…Michael, I’m in my nightgown.”
He merely shook his head mockingly. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, I thought this was an adventure!” He let go of her and sat to remove his boots. Then his stockings. He’d removed his waistcoat and cravat much earlier that evening, and so when he stood back up, he wore only his breeches and shirt. He proceeded to untuck the shirt, and in one easy move, pulled it over his head.
Lilly’s breathing became shallow. The naked skin on Michael’s chest was nearly as tanned as the skin on his arms and hands. Watching him fold his shirt and carefully place it on a handy log, Lilly had no qualms watching his muscles ripple and stretch. There was a tantalizing V of black curling hair forming a trail into his breeches.
“The water isn’t as cold as you think,” he reassured her. “A hot spring empties into it beneath the falls.” He then took a couple of steps, hopped onto a boulder, and dove cleanly into the darkness.
Sensing magic in the night, she searched the moonlit reflections on the water until Michael’s head appeared. Like a seal, his black hair slicked back and glistened. He treaded water, looking up at her.
“It’s dark enough, Lilly. No need to be modest.” And then floating backward he added, “I promise I won’t look, love. Swim with me.”
In his eyes, Lilly saw the tiniest hint of uncertainty. He hadn’t been certain she would swim with him, but he had hoped…
She would not disappoint! Lilly looked about and agreed that it really was too dark for anyone to see much of anything.
“You won’t peek?” she asked.
“I won’t peek. Go ahead. Just give me a holler when I’m allowed over there again.”
Lilly considered where she was. At an enchanted waterfall, on Michael’s property, in the middle of the night, alone.
With Michael.
She unbuttoned her dressing gown and laid it upon the blankets. She could not swim in her nightgown. It wouldn’t dry by morning, and how would she explain that to her mother? She looked back at the water to make sure Michael was not watching, and then pulled her nightgown over her head. Wearing nothing, she held it in front of herself and crept back toward the water.
It had been ages since she had swum. When Rose had been at home, before marrying, she would take Lilly to a small lake near their father’s property. There was a private cove where, if so inclined, one could cool off in the summers. Her sister had taught her how to push air out her nostrils while under the water in order to keep the water from going in. She had taught her if she kicked and waved her arms, she could stay afloat, and she had eventually excelled at crossing back and forth across the pond from one end to the other.
It had been a very long time ago, and it had always been only the two girls. Even then, they’d swum wearing some underclothes, a chemise and a pair of drawers. This was utter madness!
“The water is deep enough to dive?” she called out to Michael, clutching her gown modestly in front of her nakedness.
“It drops off quickly. You can jump or dive,” he called back.
As though quite literally walking off a cliff, Lilly tossed her gown aside, climbed onto the boulder, took a deep breath, and dove in.
He was right. The water wasn’t icy cold as she’d expected. In fact, it was lovely.
She twisted her body underwater and then kicked herself to the surface. “Oh, Michael, this is heavenly!” she shouted. She didn’t hear him but felt his presence when he surfaced only a few feet away.
She playfully splashed him and then ducked away when he retaliated. After several minutes more horseplay, they each floated on their backs, gazing at the stars.
“My brave angel.” Michael spoke softly into the night air.
Lilly trailed her fingers along his arm just below the surface of the water. “I don’t have to be brave when I’m with you.” She smiled over at him.
Pure love shone from the eyes looking back at her. “Follow me?” he asked.
“Of course.” In that moment, she would have followed him to the ends of the earth.
Michael dropped his feet and used his arms to tread water. “We are going to swim under the falls. The water from the falls will seem as though it is pushing you down, but don’t let that scare you. Simply duck under the surface, and swim to the other side. Can you do that?” There was a twinkle in his eyes. This was a special place to him.
“Under the falls?” Lilly asked skeptically.
Michael laughed. “Follow me.”
He kicked off and moved his arms in strong, even strokes away from her. Unwilling to be left behind, Lilly let her body remember the motions and followed him, her feet kicking out behind her.
She was glad he had warned her of the pounding water. It was so powerful that it did, in fact, push her downwards. Responding to an instant of panic, she kicked her legs harder and eventually surfaced on the other side, coughing and sputtering. She hadn’t been able to take a full breath before going under.
